One of President-Elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises was mass deportation of undocumented immigrants on “Day One” of his presidency.
A local group is taking the threat seriously.
One person who took note of Trump’s promise was Juan Constantino, executive director of La Casa de Amistad, Michiana’s leading Hispanic advocacy group. He said the nonprofit’s leadership team already met Wednesday to begin planning, focusing on three things to start.
"How do we prepare our community? How do we protect our community with legal defense, and then how do we convene allies to support us in this work?" he said.
Constantino says La Casa’s first priority is to quickly hire an immigration attorney to work in its Immigration Clinic.
"Are our families prepared for it? And it's unfortunately something we have to think about. If mom and/or dad get deported, what right-of-attorneys are in place? What guardianship letters are in place? Does the whole family move with mixed-status families?"
Constantino said he’s already seeing people express fear that reminds him of 2016 when Trump first took office.
"Through the phone calls that are coming in, the families that are physically walking in and asking questions, the uptick in immigration legal consultations in quite literally the last 24 hours, so the team is beginning to brace themselves."
